Macau Junket Operator Accused of Laundering $231 Million

Prominent Macau Junket operator Cheung-Chi-tai has turned himself in to the police on Monday South China Morning Post reported. The businessman is facing accusations of laundering HK$1.8b ($231m) through many bank accounts in Southern China.

Cheung has been the focus of a long investigation by Hong Kong police, who was granted a court order to freeze Cheung’s assets back in November. The 54-year-old former major shareholder of Macau’s junket operator Neptune Group, was identified by US government in 1992 as a top lieutenant of the Wo Hop To Triad Group.

Back in 2001 in the Hong Kong court case, a witness has identified Cheung as a triad leader who ordered the murder of one of the Macau’s casino dealers. However, despite of this testimony, he's never been convicted of that alleged crime.

According to the reports, Cheung now faces three separate charges of money laundering. The first charge against Cheung is that he allegedly dealt with the property which is believed to represent proceedings of organized crime.

The second charge against prominent Macau junket operator is similar to the first one as it alleges that he dealt with the big amount of money deposited to his bank which is believed to be proceedings of organized crime.

The third charge alleges that he dealt with the money which was deposited into his Chong Hing Bank. It is believed that he knew that money directly or indirectly represented proceedings of organized crime.

Cheung’s name has been in news a lot lately and it was mostly mentioned alongside different criminal activities. His name was also mentioned in the recent lawsuit which involves accusations of graft and organized crime that was linked to casinos owned by Sheldon Adelson.

He was described as leader of Wo Hop To Triad Group, which is believed to have some connection with Adelson’s casinos. According to the court documents, Cheong's name was found on contracts that involve ‘junket reps’ who bring high rollers to casinos in Macau. However, Adelson said that he had no direct business with Cheung and that he had no significance to his company.

Cheung, described as a Hong Kong permanent resident, was released on a $25,000 bail and is due back to court on September 24th. If he gets convicted, Cheung is looking at a sentence of up to 14 years in prison.